Thought Leadership
Exceptional Scholars, Exceptional Debt: A 2023 DPT Student Loan Survey
Winning Jenga is simple: Destabilize the tower as little as possible when relocating blocks from the bottom to the top, and hope your opponent sends the tower tumbling to the ground. The rules are easy enough—but as the average Jenga-enjoyer knows, each turn becomes more difficult as the players methodically erode the tower’s foundation. It’s…
Read More6 Steps to Becoming a Physical Therapy Advocate
Physical therapy (PT) is a discipline that is often overlooked by both insurers and patients. More than 50% of all Americans over the age of 18 report having a musculoskeletal condition like trauma, back pain, or arthritis—that’s about 259 million people in pain for those keeping track—but very few of those injured seek care. This…
Read MoreTelehealth For Me, But Not for Thee: Examining the Biases in Virtual Care
Telehealth has the potential to expand healthcare access to millions of patients. When used, it supplements health professional shortage areas—it offers a legitimate solution to patient transportation issues. It reliably reduces no-shows, and it gives physical therapists the unique opportunity to walk patients through their HEP in their home environment. Virtual care is not a…
Read MoreService: Worthy to Do and Worth Doing
I began this essay while traveling on a plane, during which, every now and again, I gazed through the windows to take in the clouds. I felt hopeful. That is what the clouds have always meant to me: hope, possibility, and the promise of positive change to be found in the unknown if we dare…
Read MoreTime to Reimagine The American Dream
I opened the building door, ran up the stairs, and stopped by the door to the apartment. It had been about 24 hours since I left Ukraine, the country that I used to call home. I was finally in the U.S. My new home. I looked back to see what was taking my parents so…
Read MoreInvestigating LGBTQ+ Cultural Competence in Physical Therapy
No two patients are exactly alike. In a clinical sense, two patients recovering from the same condition won’t progress in exactly the same way—and in a social sense, those patients will respond differently to their provider interactions. One patient may respond well to detailed explanations about their care, whereas another may respond to light overviews…
Read MoreDiversifying the PT Hiring Pool Through HBCUs
Many people who work in or alongside the physical therapy industry are invested in diversifying the PT profession. National PT organizations, like APTA, ACAPT, and APTQI, alongside private companies, are working tirelessly to improve access to physical therapy and ensure that patients feel represented by their PT providers. That said, the PT industry has a…
Read MoreIdentifying and Dismantling Performative Allyship
Good intentions are easy to have. Most people have a lot of them—and you likely do, too. You may intend to empty the trash when you get home. You may also intend to book a flight to visit a friend in Chicago, or you may intend to knit a blanket for your niece. But the…
Read MoreWhat the Confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson Means for U.S. Diversity Efforts
This month, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson made history as she became the first Black woman to secure a position on the U.S. Supreme Court. Her path was not an easy one to follow; she faced countless obstacles and a rigorous confirmation hearing—yet despite it all, she successfully claimed one of the most coveted and highly…
Read MoreOne More Hurdle: How Students Face Unequal Barriers to the PT Profession
In an official 100-meter hurdle race, everything is perfectly fair. Every racer jumps over exactly 10 hurdles that are adjusted to be exactly 33 inches high. Every subsequent hurdle is placed 8.5 meters away from the previous one—and everyone who runs the race starts at the exact same time in the exact same weather conditions.…
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